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T. HOPSTATTER, Jr.

MACHINE FOR LONGITUDINALLY GROWING RODS FOR DOWBLS. No. 324,259. Patented Aug. l1, 1885.

. description thereof, reference being had to FFICE.,

ATENT THEODORE HOFSTATTER, JR., OF NV YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR LONGITUDINALLY GROOVING RODS FOR DOWELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,259, dated August 11, 1885.

` Application filed February 26, 1885. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.:

ABe it known that I, THnoDoRn HorsTA'r- TER, Jr., of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines Afor Longitudinally Grooving Rods for Dowels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a machine for producing longitudinally channeled or grooved rods for making dowel-pins.

It consists in the combination, with a se'- ries of grooved feed-rollers and Vwith a suitable head-block, of a series of adjustable serrated cutters .so arranged to encircle radially an openingthroughvwhich the rod to be channeled is forced by the rollers as to produce uniform longitudinal grooves in the rods, in manner as hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improved rod-channeling machine, partly in section; Fig. 2, a vertical section in line x :c of Figs. l and 3; Fig. 3, a vertical section in line g/ y of Fig. 2.

A represents the bed-plate of the machine; B, its driving-pulley; and C its drivingfshaft, mounted in suitable bearings upon the bedplate A between two parallel roller-shafts, D D, which, mounted in bearings in the same plane therewith, are geared thereto by cogwheels EE' E'.

The bearings for t-he lateral roller-shafts D D are fitted in suitable pedestals, G G, and jour nal-boxes H H (see Fig. 2) are'tted over the bearings in said pedestals to-have free vertical play therein. v A second set of rollershafts, D' D', are fitted to rotatein these boxes H H, directly over the shafts D D, parallel therewith, and the shafts are geared together in pairs, D D', D D', by means of cog-wheels E2 E2 upon the shafts D D', whose diameter corresponds to that of the wheels E E',with which they mesh. The four shafts thus arranged in pairs,D D' ,D D', are made to rotate uniformly at the same speed by the rotation of the main shaft C. The ends of the shafts are fitted with rollers J J J' J', of equal diameter, which are circumferentially grooved with one or more semi-cylindrical grooves, the opposite grooves in each pair being made, when the rollers are brought together, to inclose a circular opening. By making each set or pair of grooves of a different diameter a series of openings of different sizes are presented through which to pass rods of dierent sizes. The loose boxes H H (see Fig. 2) for the journals of the upper roller-shafts, D' D', are secured by means of cap-plates K K, fitted on the top of the pedestals G G, and confined by set-screws a a. The cap-plates rest upon rubber blocks L L, or other suitable springs, interposed between the cap-plates and the boxes, and by -means whereof a constant elastic pressure is brought to bear upon the feed-rollers and the rod led between them, the pressure being readily adjusted by means of the set-screws a a. Upon one side ofthe feed-rolls and inline therewith a carriage or base-plate, M, is mounted to traverse in a recess, b, cut in the bed-plate A parallel withl the axes of the rolls, and is made fast byv means of a pin, N, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) fitted to the under side of the carriage to project through a longitudinal slot in the bottom of the groove and receive a washer, E, and thumb-nut O. (See Fig. 3.) A wide head-block or standard,.l?, is secured to the plate M at right angles thereto, with its face parallel to the rolls. Four grooves are cut in a lprojecting face upon the head-block, to radiate at right angles to each other from a central point in the horizontal planeextending between the rolls, and each groove is adapted to receive a cutter-bar, R, (see Fig. 3,) which,

when fitted therein, is made fast by means of a A set-screw, c, passing through alongitudinal slot in the bar and engaging the block P beneath.

rPhe slot in the bar admitsv of the longitudinal adj ustmentl of the cutter toward the central point, and the set-screw c serves to hold it fast when adjusted. The inner end of each bar is formed with a curved serrated cutting-face constituting the arc of a circle having the central point of intersection of the several bars as its central axis, the serrations or cuttingteeth on said face being parallel with said axis, so that they will cut longitudinal grooves in a rod passed over them in the line and direction of the axis. cutter-bars are adapted to form, when closed The curved serrated ends of the IOO , together, a circular opening (see Fig. 3) of a diameter slightly less than that of the rod to be grooved in the machine. A different set of cutters is, by preference, furnished for each different set of grooves in the rollers, and these cutters may be either made all to fit in the same grooves in the one head or block l), or a separate head with appropriate cutters may be supplied for each set of grooves to work out difterent sizes of rods.

Such an adjustment of the cutters as may be found necessary is effected by means of thumb-screws V V, working through lugs or lips d d, projecting from the standard or headblock P to overhang the outer end of each cutter-bar, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) and which serve also to prevent the cutters from being forced apart by the passage of a knot or hard portion of wood between them.

Guide-tubes S and S', Figs. 1 and 2, are mounted in the plane of intersection of the grooved rollers J and J and J and J in a right line passing through the central opening inclosed by the cutters, and through the openings between one pair of grooves in the rollers.

By preference the guide-tubes are fitted in apertures formed to receive them in two upright-s, T T, which are secured upon the carriage M, carrying the cutters, the one in front and the other in the rear of the head-block P, upon which the critters are adjusted. llhese tubes S S are made fast in their seats by setscrews it. (See Fig. 1.) rlhe upright carrying the guide-tube S, interposed between the rollers and the cutters, is fitted in a socket, V, (see Fig. 2,) in the carriage M, and confined by a set-screw, t', so as to admit of removal.

Upon the side of the rollers opposite to the cutters, and in line with said rollers and cutters and in the same horizontal plane, a feedtube, XV, (see Fig. 1,) is mounted upon a pillar secured upon an adjustable bar, Y, fitted to move longitudinally in a recess cut in the base-plate A parallel with the roller-shafts, and which, when the feed-tube NV is in line with the opening between the cutters, the two guide-tubes S S, and one set of grooves in the rollers, is made fast by means of a thumb-nut, O, (see dotted lines, Fig. 1,) screwing upon a pin projecting from the under side of the bar Y through a slot in the base-plate A. This feed-tube W is preferably made conical in form, with its narrow end toward the rollers.

In the operation of my machine the carriage M, upon which the cutter-bars R R are mounted, and the bar Y, carrying the feed-tube W, are adjusted to bring the cutters and guidetubes on the carriage and the feed-tube on the bar in a right line with each other and with that set of grooves in the rollers J J whose diameter conforms to that of the rod to be channeled. The rod is then passed through the feedtube NV, and between the two sets of rollers J J J J, which are adjusted so as to embrace the rod closely, (see Fig. 2,) and in their rotation feed it forward through the guide-tube S, between the cutters R lt, which are likewise so adjusted as to engage and eut the surface of the rod as it passes between them. The outer end of the rod passes through the rear guide-tube, S. rlhe pressure of the springs L L upon the rollers J and J operates to cause the rollers to bind upon the rod with suilicient power to insure its being forced by their rotation through between the cutters. The guide-tubes S S on either side of the cutters serve to steady and properly support the rod as it is forced forward. The cutters are so adjusted as to eut grooves or channels longitudinallyfrom end to end of the rod. Se soon as one rod has passed out from the roller it is followed by a second, which, bearing against the end of the first and steadied by the tube S, will operate to push the first one through.

The longitudinally grooved rods are designed to be cut up, as required, into dowelpins of any length desired, and which are su-A perior to plain dowels, because of their superior facility for retaining' glue.

It is evident that two or three cutters may be substituted for the four adjustable cutters R R, and that where the machine is constructed for one size only of rods a single opening armed with radial cutters on its inner periphery may be employed to groove the rods forced through the same by means of rollersJ J J J arranged as described.

rlhe rollers and guide-tubes for guiding and feeding the rods forward through the opening between the cutters, as well as the radial arrangement of the adjustable cutterbars,are old IOC and well-known devices in machines for scraping and splitting' rattan. My invention lies in the form and arrangement of the cutters for producing parallel longitudinal grooves in the rods, and in the adjustment of the head-block carrying the cutters and the guidetubes to the various sets of grooves in the feed-rollers, so that the machine may be adapted to various sizes of rods.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, in a dowel-rod machine, with two or more pairs of parallel rollers geared to rotate in nnison,andeach formed with one or more circumferential grooves, and with a head-block or standard mounted in front of the rollers, parallel therewith, of a series of cutter-bars fitted in said head-block to move radially toward a central point at the intersection of a plane passing horizontally between the upper and lower rollers, with a plane passing through the grooves at right angles to the rollers, and whose inner ends are armed with serrations or cuttingteeth to eut parallel longitudinal grooves in a rod forced between them by the rotation of the rollers, all substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose herein Vset forth.

2. The combination, in a dowel-rod ma- IIO chine, with parallel rollers geared to rotatein moved together into line with either set of unison, and each formed with a series of oirgrooves in the rollers, substantially in the oumferential grooves of varying diameters, of manner and for the purpose herein set forth. an adjustable base-plate, M, mounted to trav- In testimony whereof I have signed my name erse in front of the rollers in line parallel to thisspeoioationin the presence of tWosub- 15 with their axes, and which is fitted with a soribing Witnesses. Y

head-block, P, carrying a series of radial out- THEODORE HOFSTATTER, JR. ter-bars, and with guide-tubes S S', fixed Vitnesses: thereon on either side of said head-block, A. B. MOORE,

1o whereby the head-block and guides may be P. ELBERT NosTRAND. 

